LMAO!!! LITP - the defense of the 70's was known as the "STEEL Curtain", not the "Iron Curtain", as in Pittsburgh STEELers!

Tony and 203 hit the nail on the head here. I don't feel that any of our present Steelers feel "threatened" psychologically by the greatness the 70's teams accomplished. This is a totally new era and a totally diferent group of guys who have now played together for several years and have complete confidence not only in themselves but in each other. They've gelled together as a unit and know what they need to accomplish each and every game. The Steelers have always gone for those who they feel will give 150%, not just 100%, to the team and that is evident from the way the Steelers have evolved as a team over the past couple of years. A lot of NFL"ers want to play here not only because of the professional and repectful way they are treated by the Rooneys, but because of Bill Cowher, imo. He squeezes his players to get the most he can from them and pushes them to be the best they can be at their respective positions. He accepts nothing less and imho, is one of the greatest motivators in the history of the NFL.

I agree and I would think that the past success of the team would serve as a motivation for them to be as successful as possible......to be a part of history themselves.

I always get confused between Eastern Europe and Pittsburgh - and I just got out of bed.

BB has been a coach at New England over a much smaller amount of time - I was asking what maintained the continous flow of quality LBers thorough coaching changes - but that might be the answer in itself - there haven't been many in Pittsburgh have there?

I think our linebackers have been so awesome at least under the Cowher era for mnay reasons...

One is consistancy...1 coach with a philosophy and our schemes arent changing every other year.

Another is .... our Defensive coordinator ( Dickie L ) .. Will be in HOF IMO some day down the road. His 3-4 defense is linebacker friendly and he put Blitzburgh on the map. His defenses have made soem of the best QBs in the league look like High School kids because they couldnt figure out what he is doing. Lebeaue and Cowher appear to have the same mentality and are a perfect fit for each other. The Steelers have been able to consistantly find talent that plays within our system, maybe not another teams.

Most important though, i think what is lost when talking about this era'a of Steelers linebackers and why they do so well is, The front 3. The front 3 are the guys that allow the linebackers to get to the RB, QB and is what makes the confusion start at the snap of the ball. They will never get enough credit because the stats wont be there, but they are the point of attack and what makes our LB's use thier stregths. You wont see them on highlight films, but those three are so important to make the 3-4 work.